Thousands march demanding second independence referendum

SPECIAL REPORT

BY ANDREW WHITAKER

THOUSANDS of Yes supporters took to the streets yesterday demanding a second independence referendum. The demonstration in Glasgow was the biggest pro-independence march in Scotland since the 2014 referendum.

Colourful Yes Scotland banners, Saltire flags and campaign placards were held aloft as the march, accompanied by traditional Scottish pipers, made its way from the Botanic Gardens, through Glasgow’s West End towards George Square.

The Yes2 demonstration, estimated to be 5,500-strong, was met by nearly 100 independence-supporting bikers, who loudly revved their motorcycle engines to show their support as the marchers came into George Square.

Sandy Thomson, 61, a retired builder from South Queensferry, who was part of the Yes Bikers contingent with his Harley-Davidson Sportster, said: “We just want people to know that the independence campaign has not gone away. We want a referendum by 2017 or 2018, but I trust the way the Scottish Government is dealing with the issue.”

The key demand of the demonstration, organised by the All Under One Banner group, was for a second independence referendum, with a large number of the protesters saying such a vote was needed before the UK pulls out of the EU.

Thomas Widmann, a Danish national who has lived in Scotland since 2002, on the demonstration with his wife Phyllis Buchanan and their three children, said there was a desperate need for a fresh independence vote.

The 44-year-old, who runs a translation service business with his wife in Newton Mearns, spoke about his fears of being deported after the UK voted for a Brexit last month and the Tory Government refused to guarantee that EU citizens will be allowed to stay in Britain.

Widmann said: “We need a new referendum before Brexit. I’m from Denmark and my three children have dual nationality, so we’re obviously concerned about what will happen.”

Buchanan, 48, said she knew of at least two-dozen Scotland-based EU nationals who were worried about the prospect of being forced to leave during the Brexit process.

“It’s actually quite frightening for people and there must come a point when you ask whether you think about leaving before a gun is held to your head and the decision is made for you,” she said.

Demonstration organiser John McHarg echoed the concerns. “There are people here from other EU countries who are absolutely terrified about what will happen to them and some of them have got involved in the campaign because of this.”

Tony Cox, of the Scottish Unemployed Workers’ Network, said the march should be seen as the launch of a more radical movement for independence, which he suggested would attract greater support by posing an alternative vision to the Tory austerity agenda at Westminster.

Cox, who was recently made redundant from his job as a welfare rights adviser in Dundee, said: “Opposition to welfare cuts has to be a red line issue for us, as we don’t want independence just so we can have a different coloured flag.

“We’ve had 40 years from Westminster of the criminalisation of people on welfare and we need to launch a social independence movement that puts forward an alternative to this, which is the way we can win independence.”

But there was also anger among protesters about the renewal of Trident, when all but one of Scotland’s MPs voted to scrap the weapons system, but were outvoted by the Commons as a whole.

John Godfrey, a trainee pilot from Dundee, who was on the protest with his mum and sister, said: “The attitude of the UK Government in the Trident vote just personified its approach to Scotland and independence in that they just ignored the views of the majority of our MPs, and there were no concessions at all.”